Benefit or not?

I just had a discussion with someone about the fact that the government has raised the amount of tax free earnings a person is entitled to.

On the face of it this seems like a wonderful thing that would benefit the lower wage bracket of the UK, which I am sure it does...however what most people may not realise is that it also benefits the large earners that circumvent the taxation system by using means that adhere to the letter of the law but not the spirit of it.

Take for example someone who 'earns' a lot however they're self employed and the company is the entity that gets the actual money, the self employed person can now pay themselves a larger chunk of profits without needing to pay tax as an employee whilst at the same time allowing the company to offshore income and pay the owner a dividend on profits.

Since the number of self employed has risen dramatically I imagine lots of people are doing this.

So on the face of it a nice gesture to the underpaid, in reality yet more kickbacks for the rich